KALAMAZOO, MI -- Ten employees who took part in the city of Kalamazoo's recently completed Early Retirement Initiative are getting pensions of more than $72,300.

Those 10 retirees and their pension amounts are listed in the graphic above.

Pensions average about $40,000 for the 217 employees who accepted the offer to retire early in order to help the city shave down a $6 million deficit. The median, or midpoint, of their pensions is about $36,000, according to city records obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette through Michigan Freedom of Information Act.

The ERI was offered to 265 employees who had at least 21 years of
service by Dec. 31, 2011, regardless of age. Each employee who took it
was given an incentive bonus and a full pension, including credit for an
additional three years worked. They also were paid for all accrued vacation time and half of their accrued sick time.

Pensions are calculated by multiplying an employee's Final Average Compensation -- using the highest consecutive 36-month period in the last 10 years -- times years of service, times a multiplier based on their employee group. The multipliers are 2.7 percent for public safety officers, 2.3 percent for non-union employees and 2.1 percent for all other employee groups. For example, under the ERI a non-union employee who worked for the city
for 25 years and had a Final Average Compensation of $75,000 would
collect a pension of $48,300 after counting the extra three years'
credit ($75,000 x 28 x .023). Without the additional three years credit, that pension would be $43,125.

“We’ve always been told that (the pension) going to be about 70 percent of what you actually earned while working and that’s where it came in,” said Bill Schomisch, who retired after working 33 years for Kalamazoo Metro Transit, the last 29 as director. Schomisch, 65, will receive a pension of $74,909, about 72 percent of his salary. His annual pension is sixth highest among the early retirees.

“It’s what we promised, so they’re fair," City Commissioner Barbara
Miller said of the pensions early retirees are collecting. "Are people
going to be shocked? Yeah. They see these bottom line (pension) numbers
and it looks like a lot."

Use our database

Use our database to look up pensions, lump-sum incentives and sick and vacation payouts for the early retirees by department and position.

Pensions are listed as yearly figures and also are broken down as monthly amounts. The "total of one-time payouts" column combines the retiree's 1 percent incentive, sick and vacation payouts. Click on the "details" link under each position to see the one-time payments broken down into incentive, sick and vacation time payouts. Employees who belong to the city's Amalgamated Transit Union receive annual leave instead of sick/vacation payouts.

The graph at the top of the database shows the total annual salaries and one-time payouts of all positions within each department.

Emily Monacelli covers local government and beer for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact her at emonacel@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.